


Shelter

by thescruffynerfherder



Category: Chernobyl (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Hugs, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Sort of? - Freeform, Valoris, angry and sad Valery, no beta comrades we die like men, pet names yall, soft and protective Boris
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-14 23:31:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19283428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thescruffynerfherder/pseuds/thescruffynerfherder
Summary: Valery and Boris have a conversation after the conference in Vienna that will change their lives forever.





	Shelter

**Author's Note:**

> This began as a getting it out of my system fic but became more.  
> Disclaimer: I'm shipping the characters from the HBO mini series and not the real people, I mean no offence.

**Vienna**

**August 27th 1986,**

**3 hours after the conference.**

 

Valery Legasov sat in his dark hotel room looking at the script for the speech he just held in front of the entire western world. He took a drag from the cigarette in his hand, a different brand than the ones they had back home, these ones were stronger. It was his seventh since leaving the conference, it didn’t matter how much he smoked he would be dead in a few years anyway. He hadn’t been contacted by the KGB or other government officials yet which meant that the conference was probably viewed as a success. Well at least when judged from a publicity standpoint it was.

The Union should be more than happy with the six hour presentation because in it Legasov talked mostly about the human error that lead to the incident and not the faulty reactors. He didn’t lie to his western colleagues, he presented them with facts, of course he couldn’t explain to them how or why the RBMK reactor exploded. Now it seems as if the accident in Chernobyl was the fault of the untrained night shift personnel and Dyatlovs unprofessionalism.

And even though these factors contributed to the catastrophe, they weren't the cause of the explosion, in the end it really wasn't their fault they did the right thing but still suffered under the horrible consequences, they suffered because their own state tried to cut costs at every corner.

Valery knew the truth and yet he was forbidden to tell the world, he knew that if there was a second accident like the one in Chernobyl he wouldn’t be able to live with himself knowing that he could have prevented it today, here in Vienna.

Every remaining RBMK reactor was like a ticking time bomb only waiting for the final push of the AZ-5 button, waiting to destroy half the continent and transform an even bigger part of the earth into a toxic and uninhabitable wasteland.

He alone couldn’t force the Soviet Union to shut these reactors down, he couldn’t even force them to fix the deadly design flaw. He had to trust Charkov and that in itself was an impossible task, he didn’t take the situation seriously, none of them really did.

 

_ Well one of them does. _

 

Valery was abruptly pulled out of his spiralling thoughts by a firm knock on the door. He knew who was in front of his door, after so many months in his company the unique knock was something Valery easily recognised. When he opened the door the professor was not surprised to find the broad shadowy stature of Boris Shcherbina there. The light in Valery room was turned off, something he hadn't notice until Boris’ big backlit frame stood before him. The bright light from the hallway burned in his eyes, his glasses had been discarded some time ago.

 

“Valery” Boris nodded, Valery couldn’t see his face due to the lack of light but his voice was quieter than usual.

 

_ God he sounds exhausted _ .

 

Valery was unsure of what to do, all the talking he’d done today had taken a toll on him, Boris noticed and unceremoniously squeezed past his narrow frame to walked further into the room.

He reached for the light switch but thought better of it when he remembered how Valery squinted when the hallway light reached his eyes. So he turned the small lamp on the desk on instead, a desk which Boris noted with a small smile, was completely flooded with all kinds of academic papers. He turned around to face Valery who had just closed the door and walked towards the bed.

 

“I just talked to General Secretary Gorbachev, he watched your presentation and was rather pleased with your statement. He wants us back in Moscow by tomorrow afternoon where we will attend another meeting with the commission. Our flights-” Valery interrupted him.

“He didn’t listen” Valery sat down on the bed, slumped over and put his head in his hands.

“What?” the almost bark sounding like commanding tone Boris had used with him in the beginning had changed drastically and Valery knew that the same question would have sounded very different coming from the Boris he met a few months ago, now he talked almost soft when addressing Valery, as if he wanted to protect him from the harshness of the world, or so Valery liked to think.

 

_ I would have never thought that Boris Shcherbina could be described as doing anything softly. _

 

But then again Valery would also have never thought that he himself would think about Boris as anything other than a carrier party man and yet…

 

“What do you mean Valera?” Legasov was brought out of his train of thought by the softly spoken nickname coming out of Boris mouth, he had pulled a chair up to the bed and was sitting opposite Valery.

“He didn’t listen Boris, I talked for six hours, Gorbachev's attention span isn't even that long when someone’s talking about something he understands. He has his people who listen to everything I said and report back to him if I stuck to the script or not, that's it.”

 

Valery observed how Boris’ eyes widened as he looked at him, his voice deadly quiet “Valery you can’t talk like that what if they hear?”

Boris had come closer to whisper his words into Valery’s ear and the later could feel the warm breath against his cheek, making goose bumps spread all over his body.

“And I didn’t understand most of it either and still listened to everything you said Valera.” Boris pulled away again concern for Valery evident in his eyes.

Valery averted his eyes and looked on the floor between them.

“Don’t worry Borja, you were right, a naive idiot is no threat for them.” Valery said, his voice sounding beaten.

He could feel Boris’ questioning stare so he explained.

“I got a call earlier, they want me to testify before a western council here in Vienna. It wasn’t enough to convince them, they’ll talk to me privately without any other soviet officials present. If the room was bugged they would have already known, we wouldn’t be ordered back to Moscow tomorrow, we’d already be sitting on a plane.”

Valery took a deep breath “I have to tell them the truth Borja.” He looked up at Boris from beneath his lashes, afraid of what he would find in the eyes of the other man.

  
  


Fear was the answer. Boris looked afraid, of what exactly Valery wasn’t sure.  

“You can’t tell them the truth.” Boris said in a quiet, unbelieving voice, the pain evident in his eyes.

Valery abruptly stood up, still only illuminated from the small desk lamp but Boris could see that his eyes were not only red from the light and cigarette smoke but also from the tears that shone in them. “Why are we doing this Boris?”

Valery looked down at him, normally Boris’ height ensured that almost everyone including Valery had to look up to him, this was such a different position for them to be in, not only because of the perspective change but also because Valery seemed to be the angry one whilst Boris just felt defeated. But even though Boris was seated and Valery was standing right in front of him, the professor still felt small in Boris' presence and was surprised by his own rather angry tone when he asked him again.

“Why are we doing any of this Boris? Tell me.”

 

This time the reply to Valery’s question came instantly .

“We’re doing it to protect millions of people.”

 

“Are we really Boris? there are still 16 other RBMK reactors active in the Soviet Union right now, all of them have the same design flaw. What if it happens again? What then? The only thing we’re protecting here is a state who is too afraid to ask for help because they think they will be perceived as weak in the eyes of the world, the state who is giving out propaganda numbers even though they know the gravity of the situation. A state that refused to have civilians close to the catastrophe evacuated because they were afraid of the way their government would look, whilst hundreds of kilometres away children were forbidden from playing outside.

With these lies we’re protecting a communist state that doesn’t care about the wellbeing of its people, this should be reason enough for us to question our actions.

The continent is safe yes, but only for now and hundreds of thousands will still die from cancer or other radiation related issues, not to mention all of the workers it already took and will take to keep Chernobyl under control. And we can't even guarantee them that their sacrifice will keep their loved ones and future generations safe.”

 

Valery’s eyes were fixed on the corner of the white handkerchief he could see in Boris pocket, a handkerchief that without a doubt would catch Boris’ bloody cough in the future, the tears were now freely streaming down his face. Valery tore away his eyes and walked over to the window, wiping away his tears. He could hear Boris getting up and waited for the door to slam shut.

 

It never came, instead he felt Boris arms coming around his waist, he was hugging him from behind. Going against all of his rational thoughts, Valery allowed himself to indulge in the sensation and leaned back against Boris’ broad chest.

Boris hugged him tighter, his mouth was next to Valery’s ear again.

“Tell them.” A pause, Boris took a deep breath. “But only under one condition, ask to be granted asylum in the west. Promise me Valera.”

Boris was almost crushing Valery but the small scientist somehow still managed to turn around in the strong embrace, he was finally hugging Boris back and pressed his face into the crook of the taller man’s neck, tears were beginning to soak Boris shirt collar.

Boris could barely hear Valery’s muffled voice between the sobs. “ I can’t stay here Borja, I’d never see you again.” Boris’ hand came up to hold the back of Valery’s neck, his other hand was still pressing the scientist firmly against his chest.

 

“I know but you can’t come back with me either, it would be too dangerous. I can’t let the KGB take you Valera and I can’t protect you from Charkov. If they don’t shoot or torture you then they’ll isolate you, I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you.”

 

Valery leaned back slightly looking up at Boris. This was it and Valery knew it, he had to try and even though he would have loved nothing more than to stay in Boris' arms forever, safe and protected, he just had to know.

 

“Stay with me.”

 

Boris looked down at Valery, illuminated only by the small light from the desk and the soft moonlight that came through the window. He was so small and vulnerable, he had never seen him like this, with red eyes and silent tears still streaming down his face, and yet he somehow still managed to be the most beautiful person Boris had ever seen.

The little professor was shaking and Boris had the urge to wrap every blanket and then himself around Valery just to keep him warm and safe.

He pressed their foreheads together.

  
  


“I can’t you wouldn’t be safe. I need to go back and convince Gorbachev and the rest of the commission that you didn’t stay behind voluntarily. This would at least give you some time before they try to come for you”

Valery hugged him even tighter.

“Please Borja.”

Boris shut his eyes, he knew that if he kept looking into his eyes he would do anything Valery asked of him but that would just endanger his little professor further.

“It’s the only way to keep you safe Valera, if they find out...”

Boris could feel Valery's hand on his cheek, prompting him to open his eyes and look down at the moonlight lit professor. Valery was so close to Boris that he could smell the sweet champaign they had earlier at the conference reception mixed with the strong smell of cigarette smoke that seemed to follow Valery everywhere, and then Valery's lips were on his. Soft and with a light pressure, unpracticed, Boris pressed back against Valery, not as brutish and strong as one would expect of him, too afraid of scaring Valery and ending the moment if he comes off as too demanding.  Both closed their eyes and treasured this one moment, drowning out all the different fears on their minds.

Valery slowly pulled back from the kiss but remained incredibly close to Boris, he looked back up into the taller man’s eyes. “Stay, I’ll always be safe when you’re around to protect me.”

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope Boris doesn't come off as too OOC, he'll be more "alpha" in future chapters!
> 
> This is the first fanfic I've written in over two years so it's probably a bit "stiff" but oh well, I'm also not a native english speaker and the first half of the story was written in German and then translated into English but I hope its not too noticeable.  
> I'd appreciate some feedback if you have the time :)


End file.
